


Alternative Universe and Base(s)

by Lunatasha



Series: HitsuKarin Week 2014 [3]
Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 20:05:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1441108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatasha/pseuds/Lunatasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her teacher smiled. “Good. Are you free after school on Thursday?” Karin nodded. “Great. My top student is free then as well. He’s already agreed to mentoring you. Meet him in the library after school on Thursday. Toshiro Hitsugaya, he’ll be easy to spot, he has white hair.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alternative Universe and Base(s)

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution for day 3 and 4 of the 2014 HitsuKarin week on tumblr, 'Alternative Universe' and 'Base(s)'. I actually really like how this one turned out, hopefully you guys will as well.

"Kurosaki, can I please see you for a moment?"

Karin bit back a sigh as she packed up her school bag and walked over to her teacher’s desk. “Yeah?”

"I’m thinking about setting you up with a mentor. You got bad grades in the past two assessments now and I think you need extra sessions. Would you agree?"

Karin paused for a moment before nodding. Her teacher wasn’t exactly wrong. She had been struggling with the current topic. Maybe having someone new explaining things in a different way might help.

Her teacher smiled. “Good. Are you free after school on Thursday?” Karin nodded. “Great. My top student is free then as well. He’s already agreed to mentoring you. Meet him in the library after school on Thursday. Toshiro Hitsugaya, he’ll be easy to spot, he has white hair.”

Karin nodded once. “…Right. Ok, I’ll do that.” She secured her bag onto her shoulder and made her way out of the classroom.

And so, Karin Kurosaki found herself entering the school library at quarter to four on a Thursday afternoon. This ‘Toshiro Hitsugaya’ wasn’t in plain sight, waiting for her, nor was he by the computers. Karin walked further into the library, past the bookcases to the study area. It was a lot quieter now than it was during the school day. There were only three people there, two girls and a boy with bright white hair.

A very attractive boy with bright white hair. Karin took a moment before going over and tapping him on the shoulder. He looked up and leaned back in his chair, revealing similarly bright blue-green eyes. “Are you Toshiro?”

He nodded. “Yes. I’d prefer it if you called me Hitsugaya though. I take it you’re Kurosaki?”

"Yep, but you can call me Karin."

Toshiro looked up at her for a moment before gesturing for her to sit down. “All my teacher said was that you’ve gotten bad grades in the last couple of tests. Is there a particular topic you’re having trouble with?”

Karin listened as she sat down, removing her bag from her shoulder and putting it by her feet. “Wow you really get down to it huh? Well, I’m not entirely sure, but I think I started getting lost with all the quadratic equations and stuff. I’ve been good at everything else, but the second they added letters I started to have problems.”

Toshiro nodded. “Ah I see. I assumed it was just a topic you were struggling with, and not just maths in general, given that we’re about 6 months into the school year. That’s good though, because it means we can spend a lot of time on it and make sure you understand. Is there anything you would like to start with? Or would you rather we start from the beginning?”

Karin raised an eyebrow. “Well what is the beginning?”

"I had a quick look at the textbook your year is using and the first time the book introduces you to maths with letters is the equations of lines."

Karin glanced up at him. “Well…given that I can’t for the life of me think of what a line equation is, we should probably start with that.”

Toshiro nodded. “Well it could be that your teacher just isn’t covering things in the order of the textbook. But following the order of the textbook is the easiest way for me to keep track of where we are. So it might mean I cover something that’s already been covered.”

"Fair enough. Besides, I don’t think it’s going to hurt me to go over something that’s already been taught. We have the time right?"

"Should do. Let’s get started."

Karin nodded and pulled her maths books out of her bag. Toshiro was a bit blunt, and went straight to the point, but it seemed like he’d be a decent teacher. She laid out her books on the desk, followed by her pencil case. ”Ok, so, line equations.”

Toshiro nodded. “Line equations. Earlier you said you didn’t know what one was. But all it is is a way of writing the relationship between the x co-ordinates and the y co-ordinates that lie in a line.”

"…I have no idea what you just said."

Toshiro looked over to Karin’s quizzical face. “It’s probably easier to show you. Pass me your exercise book.”

Soon enough, Toshiro had drawn a quick graph with no points plotted on it. “Ok, so an example of an equation of a line could be y = 2x - 1.” He wrote the numbers and letters down underneath the graph. “Do you know which axis is the x axis?”

"Yeah it’s the one that goes across the page, the y axis goes down the page."

Toshiro nodded. “Yeah. If this equation pops up in an exam it’s probably asking you to draw a line on a graph. This equation is basically telling you where to draw the line. The way to figure it out is to just work out plot points. Pick a number between 0 and 10.”

Karin shrugged. “3.”

"Ok, so we’ve decided that that’s our x co-ordinate for this plot point. To find out the y co-ordinate that goes with it, you have to double the x co-ordinate and then subtract 1."

"Oh I think I get it. So, double 3 and then subtract 1?"

"Yep."

"5."

Toshiro nodded. “That’s our first plot point.” He made a small cross on the graph.

"So if I said the next x co-ordinate was 4, the y co-ordinate that goes with it would be 7? And then 5,9?"

Toshiro nodded as he marked plot points as Karin talked. “Looks like you’ve got it.”

"Wow that was quick. I thought it would be harder."

Toshiro shrugged. “Just because you’ve been having problems with one topic doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent. Could very well be that your teacher isn’t very good at explaining that one topic. That’s what I’m here for.”

XxXxXxX

Toshiro paused from walking down the hall when he spotted Karin out of the corner of his eye, and took a step back. “Kurosaki, how did that test go?” It had been a month since he had started helping her with maths, and he really did hope that she had improved.

Karin beamed up at him. “Really good! I got an A! But I did miss a few marks on the simultaneous equations, so I could probably do with going over it again.”

"Have you got the marked paper? It’s lunch now, so we could go through it together if you wanted to."

Karin smiled. “Fine by me. Let’s go up to the roof, it’s quieter there.”

When the two got up to the roof, Karin took her blazer off and stretched, making a happy sound. “I love it when it’s sunny.”

"I prefer the winter. Although it’s not too hot out today, so I guess it’s ok."

Karin sat down on her now laid out blazer on the floor. “You don’t like the heat?”

"Not particularly. You?"

"Love it. Although winter’s pretty good too. Gotta love the snowball fights." Toshiro smiled slightly. "You get a really long summer this year don’t you? Your last exam is like 5 weeks before I break up isn’t it?"

"Yeah. Don’t know what I’m going to fill all the time with though."

Karin patted the ground next to her, indicating that Toshiro should sit down next to her. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. Or maybe you could actually relax for once.”

Toshiro sat down cross-legged next to Karin, thighs touching hers. “I was thinking about getting a job in the summer actually.”

"Or you know, you could actually relax for once, like I said. You need someone to distract you once in a while. Besides, what’s the point in getting a job when in a couple of months you’re gonna have to quit when you leave for university."

Toshiro looked at her. “I wouldn’t have to quit. I’m going to local university. I am moving out and living in the dorms, but I’m still going to a local university. Still be in the city.”

"Oh, that’s good."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Karin blushed slightly. “No it’s just…Well you’re a really good teacher. I’d hate to lose you, I might need you again next year. Oh by the way, when does your study leave start?”

The sudden change of subject was not lost on Toshiro, but he decided to let it go. “Couple of weeks.”

"So our last session is gonna be pretty soon then huh?"

"Not necessarily. We could always meet up outside of school. If you feel the need for my help that is."

"Yeah, but you’re on study leave for a reason. Don’t you need that time to study."

"I think I can spare an hour or two for you if you want me too."

XxXxXxX

Karin sighed as she swung her legs, waiting for Toshiro to arrive. It was their last session before he left for study leave, and while they did talk about meeting up outside of school they hadn’t made any concrete plans. She wanted to get as much done this session as she could. But her biology lesson had finished early, so she was in the library in their usual spot before him.

"I don’t understand why you don’t just ask her out!"

Karin looked over to where the voice came from, to find a line of bookcases instead. About to completely zone out of the conversation she wasn’t a part of, her attention was grabbed when she heard Toshiro’s voice. ”It’s more complicated than that.”

"Why?"

The library was so quiet that she could hear Toshiro’s sigh. “Because…She’s younger than us.”

"You said yourself that she’s mature for her age."

"Yeah but I’m going off to university soon enough, I’m not going to have much time for her."

A third voice reached Karin’s ears. “So make time. Besides, she’ll understand if you can’t always hang out.”

"Yeah, but I’m also tutoring her. I’ve been helping her out, and she’s admitted that she needs my help with some topics. What if I ask her out and she says no and it gets awkward? What if she feels she can’t ask for my help any more? I don’t want to be the reason she loses marks on her exams."

Karin eyes widened as she realised who they were talking about. She was the only girl Toshiro tutored. She was also aware that Toshiro would find her soon and would realise that she heard every word. She thought for a moment before grabbing her mp3 player and having her earphones ready to put in, so it wouldn’t look like she heard the conversation that was most definitely not for her ears.

"Dude. You’re overthinking this. Asking her out is not gonna lead to her failing her exams. Besides she isn’t gonna say no."

"Yeah, I bet she’d let you get to first base in a heartbeat. I mean, most girls would when it comes to you."

Karin bit back a laugh and listened to Toshiro’s now harsher voice. “Could you not talk about her like that? I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

"Who cares? This is your last session with her, and this is your last week of lessons before you leave school. Be reckless for once and just ask her, before you can’t."

Toshiro sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

When Karin realised the conversation was ending she put her earphones in and started playing music. About a minute of a song had played before she got tapped on the shoulder. “Oh, hey.”

"You’re here early."

Karin nodded. “Yeah, lesson finished early. You ready to get started?”

The session passed far too quickly for both of them. Karin looked at the clock on the wall. They had only five minutes left before the library closed and Toshiro had shown no sign of asking her out. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Maybe he decided against it.

"Karin?"

Karin’s eyes snapped back to Toshiro’s “Hmm?”

"I said I think we’re done for the day." She nodded and started packing her books away. "Karin?"

"Yeah?"

Toshiro looked at her for a moment before looking down to the desk. “Nevermind.”

Karin sighed. Maybe he had decided to ask her out but couldn’t quite get it out. He had told her that he had never had a girlfriend. Maybe he just didn’t know how to ask a girl out. ”I should get home.” Karin started making her way to the library door. “Oh, and Toshiro?”

Toshiro stopped packing for a moment and looked over at her. “Yeah?”

"Your friend was right. I would let you get to first base in a heartbeat."

Karin watched in satisfaction as Toshiro’s eyes widened and he struggled to keep his mouth closed. He took a few moments to compose himself before replying. “Really?”

Karin smirked. “Really. You have my phone number right?”

"Er…Yeah."

Karin smiled. “Call me later and we can talk about it later, and maybe organise a date. But I really do have to get home, my dad’s really strict about my curfew.”

Toshiro smiled slightly, with a light blush on his face. “I’ll walk you home.”


End file.
